Unfair karma (Sequel to The monster)
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: Judy needs to adapt to her new life as a vixen, but dealing with her own trauma is not enough, now she will understand the trials and tribulations of being a predator.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Some readers asked for an epilogue for my story "The Monster", at first I thought the concept of Judy becoming a vixen would be too complex for a oneshot, but I was afraid a longer story would get out of hand so I wrote a pretty long single chapter anyway.**

….

This was hell, there was no doubt about it, Judy thought that being used as a mad scientists' plaything for five months was bad but this was somehow even worse. Now she was being forced to endure several medical examinations (from actually sane physicians this time) so they could evaluate the possibility for her to become a normal bunny again, even when her previous incarceration had left her with a very understandable phobia of both doctors and hospitals alike. It was disheartening to know that she went from one lab to another.

Sure these doctors at least had the decency to ask for her permission before jabbing needles into her arms and shoving her inside large contraptions like MRI and CAT scans, she could technically leave anytime she wanted to, but no matter how much she wished for this new torture to stop Judy felt like she had no choice but to oblige.

The only reason she endured all of this was her desire to be return to her normal species, and of course her parent's insistence, since they wanted nothing else for her doe daughter than to be one of their kind instead of the vixen Shalufuchs had turned her into. Nick on the other paw was as distraught at this whole thing as she was, she kept an optimistic façade around her parents but when she was with him the former rabbit didn't feel the need to act brave, so he was the only one who knew how horrible this experience was.

So now she sat in her hospital bed while two forces fought for her well being, each one getting angrier and louder with every passing minute. On one side were her beloved partner and her savior, Nick Wilde, telling everyone that she should be home to recuperate from her trauma instead of being once more poked and prodded by mammals in a lab coat, on that aspect Judy couldn't agree more. On the other side were her parents, as stubborn and overprotective as the canide in front of them, responding to the fox that the sooner the tests were done the faster she could be changed back to her normal form.

While she wished they were right at first, by this point she was beginning to lose hope on that matter. She could tell by the perplexed and sad stares she got from the whole hospital staff that there would be no easy way out of this, but she didn't have the heart to burst her parent's bubble just yet, so she endured the torture of being once more poked and prodded in spite of Nick's objections.

After a whole week of very awful and invasive tests the large team of stunned doctors finally arrived into a conclusion:

While reconstructive surgery could allow her to look like a bunny again, they could never match Shlaufuchs expertise. Even with access to her notes the results she accomplished would not be duplicated for several more years, the key to successfully carry on her interventions died with her.

The head of surgery of the Savannah Central spoke to the four mammals in front of him with as much professionalism as he could. When you work on his field long enough giving bad news becomes common but it is never a pleasant experience -"You need to understand that the changes she went through are not only aesthetic, she has right now a fully working canide nose and tongue, if we gave her a bunny muzzle she would lose both senses of smell, taste and maybe even the ability to talk"- the doctor said placatory –"Not to mention that we might not be able to make you look like a perfectly normal bunny either, the risk of scarring is too great"-

-"What do you mean by that?"- Stu Hopps said stunned, nose twitching. In his mind the idea of his daughter living as a vixen was so abhorrent it had to be fixed one way or the other.

-"It means that if the docs here try to change back what Shlaufucks did, its most likely that Judy ends up looking more like a botched Frankenbunny than an actual rabbit. Is that right?"- Nick asked the doctor with his usual sly careless way, doing a decent job at hiding his inner hurt and rage.

-"I'm afraid so, that vixen might have been a crazy bitch (without offense to she-wolves) but she was decades ahead of us"- The surgeon grumbled frustrated, dropping the professional act for only a few minutes before composing himself once more.

-"But there is a possibility that she will be fine, if we are careful maybe you can try to turn her back the way she was, right?"- Stu asked while Bonnie merely bowed her head and begun to cry

-"No there isn't"- Judy said calmly pointing at the coyote surgeon in front of them –"What doctor Sanders wants to tell us is that I'm better off staying like this, am I right doctor?"- At this point all she wanted was to get away from the hospital and begin the long process of having a normal life again, the way she looked didn't seem so important anymore.

The coyote sighed and nodded –"While being turned into a whole different species against your will is barbaric, you all need to understand that now Miss Hopps is a healthy and perfectly functional vixen, and dare I say she is actually an aesthetically pleasing specimen within the vulpine species. If we tried to reverse the procedures it's quite likely she will become a scarred rabbit. I strongly suggest you remain a healthy vixen instead of being an ill bunny"-

-"But… but… maybe if we try…"- Her father sputtered helpless, this whole situation was turning too awful to comprehend. He had clung to the hope that all this could be changed back the way it was but now that wasn't an option, and reality was crashing down on his psyche.

-"No Mister Hopps, that's enough. Judy has been suffering in this hospital for too long now, I won't let her be cut and stitched together again just because you can't accept what has happened to her"- Nick was done playing cool, bad enough was to have his partner kidnapped and tortured for five months, now he had to lay back while she put up a brave face so her parents wouldn't freak out, he would NOT let his Carrots be mangled just so the older bunnies felt more at ease.

-"Now who gave _you_ the right to make an opinion about our daughter?!"- The older male rabbit spat at the fox

-"We did Stu, if it weren't for him Judy wouldn't have been found. Nick is part of our family now and you know it"- Bonnie scolded at her husband and lightly patted the fox's larger paw letting him know that he was still cherished by the family.

The buck deflated at that comment –"You are right Bonnie. I'm sorry Nick it was rude of me to yell at you like that, we all know you want the best for Judy as well but I just…"- The buck begun to cry and imprisoned the fox into a bear hug.

Nick rolled his eyes and patted the rabbit on his back, now he knew where Judy got her emotionality from. It was true that the fox had been assimilated into the Hopps clan without even realizing it. After all at least seventy percent of the huge work force he commanded while searching for Judy were members of her family, brothers and sisters willing to work for days on end without getting paid, searching data and spotting abnormal patterns regarding transactions and such. Little by little he grew close to those bunnies and before he knew it Bonnie and Stu were treating him like he was their son, too late he realized that rabbits tend to stick together, especially in times of distress. He understood that once you manage to get in a rabbit burrow there is no way out of the family that lives inside.

While having a family was great because there were now a whole clan of mammals willing to accept and take care of him, there was also a lot of more drama involved than he was used to, they begun to be as overbearing and nagging with him as they were to all their kits.

-"It's all right Stu, we're all doing our best to manage right here, and I know it's not easy, but Judy is the one calling the shots now. Because I'm pretty sure she's tired of being forced to do stuff against her will, so we should let _her_ decide"- He eyed his partner with deep affection.

The new vixen smiled with humid eyes on the verge of tears, after what felt like an eternity she was finally able to regain some semblance of control on her life -"It's not that bad guys, I'll have to learn to live like a vixen now. If I'm healthy I guess I will still be able to be a cop like this right doc?"-

The coyote nodded, glad his patient was taking things so well, though he knew that was a common reaction on patients when their family members show distress. It's the way social groups work, when one member loses its calm the others will try to act rational to provide support -"Actually now you have an improved night vision and a very sensitive canide nose, if anything you are more equipped now to be a cop than before. I do have some concerns about your tail though, you only have sensibility and movement at its base where your natural tail was, the new longer appendage is functional and its possible that you achieve sensibility and movement in the whole area in the future, but for now that long tail of yours is like an accessory more than a useful appendage. I hope that doesn't hider you on your job"-

-"The chief says you'll have to re take the physical test before you're allowed on the field, that will let you show them what us foxes can do"- Nick told her in a smug smile, he nudged her elbow as if welcoming her into his species.

Things will start looking up she thought, they have to be.

Three weeks later:

-"For the love of Marian, Bonnie! Yes I'm eating well and working out, everything's fine in here!"- Nick groaned into his cellphone, damn! Judy's parents had over two hundred kits and somehow they managed to be helicopter parents of Every. Single. One.

Including the fox that somehow was dragged into that rabbit's den.

-"You don't look fine Nick, you have dark circles under your eyes"- Stu said accusingly from behind her, both of them were holding a baby kit on each arm –"Jennifer says you're stuck on the basement sorting through files all day and almost never go out, and she's an introvert, if you are locked up by _her_ standards we know it's serious"-

Of course Jennifer would tell on him, she and her husband moved to Zootopia after Judy's disappearance like many of her siblings, she was from Judy's litter and had the same cute yet annoying perseverance as her. Sadly she also inherited her mother's ability to meddle into other mammal's lives without being asked to.

-"I told you guys when I headed the search I didn't care for menial things like paper work, but now that everything's in order I have to catch up on all those things, and with over three thousand clues you can tell I have a humongous mountain of documents with my name on it"- he did wish he could go with Judy to Bunnyburrow but there was too much work to handle now, besides the future of a very useful task force was at stake.

The project he had created no longer had a purpose and now had to be dismantled, but many of the Hopps members and the street informants wanted to keep working there, some of Judy's siblings had accommodated nicely into the city and didn't really want to go back to the farm. No one in the precinct could deny that it had been an incredibly useful tool for many other cases that had gotten solved by the intel he collected. During his search for Judy, Nick had singlehandedly steamrolled through the criminal world, and in the process he ended up solving several cold cases. The information net he spread over the city had caught criminals like fish, and while the special force had some serious flaws (especially regarding proper procedure) with a few tweaks it could be an immensely effective tool against crime.

But it might also be expensive, even when many of the workers on that net did it for free the only way they could sustain themselves and their families was with the help and money of Mr. Big, the shrew made sure all those bunnies had everything they needed. The mafia boss also took care of the other mammals who were informants and criminals with a paw on the underworld, those did charged money and a lot at that, yet getting in the good graces of the shrew was usually worth a lot more.

Now that Judy was safe it would cost a lot of tax payer's money for the city to actually hire them, never mind the swath of red tape his net would have to go through and the laws it should abide as to not break civil liberties. But he saw an ambitious glint in Bogo's eyes, and the potential of this resource is too tempting to throw away. That's why he was so adamant for Nick to do all the paperwork and wrap this side project into a neat little bow, the chief was probably hoping that maybe with enough butt kissing and pandering to the mayor's office it could be turned into an actually official task force.

-"Nick you are working too hard, maybe we could send more of us to help?"-Bonnie said worried, you don't handle a family as large as hers without a huge spirit of cooperation

-"No thanks I have like a hundred Hopps working with me to finish all this, you have helped enough, so how's Judy?"- He said eager to change the subject

-"Ready to go back to the city I guess, but I'm not sure about this, she still can't handle to look at herself in the mirror you know?"- Stu said with his nose twitching and wet eyes, Nick prayed he wouldn't cry over the phone, _again_.

-"One paw at a time Stu, she'll get there. I'll have her call you as soon as her train arrives"- He said with more confidence that he actually felt, she had barely talked to him during her stay back at her family farm but luckily her siblings both in Bunnyburrow and Zootopia kept him up to date on her progress.

Judy's isolation had been necessary to avoid the media outrage, the headlines "Bunny cop turned into monstrous fox" and the like infected almost all news channels. It's a good thing Bogo was more than willing to speak on the press conferences, because Nick wouldn't have been capable to answer questions like _"Is she a vicious carnivore? Is she deformed? Does she have the same killing instinct as a predator now? Is it true that she became a fox because her captor bit her like a werewolf?"_ without snapping at those fucking reporters and show them what a dangerous predator actually looked like

It was her brother James that told him the reason she rarely called was because she was having a hard time handling the excess stimuli provided by her now ultra sensitive sense of smell and powerful eyesight, the overwhelmed doe spent the first week at home locked in her room with the windows closed and the light turned off. Anxiety attacks had been all too frequent at first and she didn't want to worry her partner by being an emotional wreck over the phone.

But life goes on and luckily for them the media cycle has the attention span of a fruit fly on crack, the clean-up of his task force is almost complete and now her tragedy is forgotten because everyone is talking about the upcoming marriage between Gazelle and a famous mogul from the tech industry, it's as good of a time for her to come back as any.

So he patiently sits at the Savannah central station and stares at the clock, he swears time has slowed down because the minutes pass like hours. When the train arrives he can't help to jump out of his bench and rush to the large crowd that gets off the wagons.

When Judy steps on the platform she puts on a large smile to conceal how vulnerable and scared she really feels. The first time she came to Zootopia she was so hopeful and happy, but the city was quick to show her how difficult life could be, sure over time she overcame all the obstacles thrown her way even when she had tripped and fallen a couple of times. But back then she had been healthy and stable, now her world was upside down and she felt too bruised and battered emotionally to put up a proper fight.

Yet she's determined to go on, even when she can only muster the strength to move forward because lying in bed pouting has gotten boring after three weeks. The only thing that scares her more than this big city, is the prospect of spending her whole life sheltered and locked up in her family farm because she wasn't strong enough to face the world.

When he sees her, his heart swells and breaks at the same time. Enough of the bunny he knew is left that he could recognize her anywhere, the shade of purple in her eyes, the silvery glint in her fur, and the curve of her smile. But the bouncy exuberance that always characterized her personality is gone and all he sees is a sad little shy creature with a terrified expression on her eyes walking towards him. He goes to her and gives her a hug so gentle you would think she was made of glass, her smile is still there it just looks unhappy.

He puts on a smiley yet fake expression on his face as well, sometimes denial is the best strategy

-"You look great!"- He says with as much reassurance as he can muster –"Did you go shopping with fru fru?"-

Her chuckle doesn't sound that forced now -"Yeah, she came to visit me last Sunday and we went to the mall in Deerbroke, what gave me away?"-

He eyed the pink frilly dress filled with flowers and a large sunhat that made her look like a cross between a southern belle and a baby doll, exactly the kind of outfit the mafia heiress would choose for Judy to wear. Had she been wearing that as a rabbit the universe would have imploded by the sheer cuteness, but as a vixen she kinda managed to pull it off.

-"A lucky guess, soo… ready for work?"- He said holding up his arm like the charming gentleman he can be sometimes and she took it graciously in response. They didn't feel like being their usual casual selves just yet.

-"Yes and no"- She said honestly –"I can't wait to see the guys at the police and get to work again, be useful you know? But the first time I went to the precinct I felt kinda overwhelmed and now _my whole life_ is overwhelming. You know I've been a bit too sensitive lately; most times I'm fine but other times… I'm not. It's like I don't have much control over my temper anymore"- She said shrugging, she was glad she could keep it together at least for the time being.

-"No one expects you to be perfectly stoic after all that's happened, you'll make it work, and if you get emotional then don't be ashamed about it. No one will judge you."-

Judy wasn't sure about that, showing weakness was not tolerated at the force, and she would hate to fight so hard to be taken seriously as an officer only to prove everyone was right about her when they labeled her as helpless.

They took a Zuber to her new home, it was an old mansion style building remodeled and turned into several smaller apartments located at the border between Savannah and Foxtown. Nick was familiar with the place, the "pink manor" as it was called by the mammals on the area, was a well known place for young predator ladies to stay and be kept out of trouble when staying in the big city. The landlady was a huge grizzly bear named Big Bertha, born with a giant stick up her butt and an overprotective personality, perfectly suitable to kick out any wondering male with less than holy intentions.

He had been one of those males in his teenage years, a ladies' male so to speak. Pretty naïve vixens often stayed there and he liked to keep an eye on the "merchandise" available and "going for the hunt" looking for a date and often something more. A quick look around the street and he could already see a young silver fox pretending to chat with a grey wolf while stealing looks at Judy with hungry eyes like a vulture.

" _It must be karma_ " he thought groaning. Chasing vixens and getting his freak on with them was great back in the day, but now that one of those vixens was someone he cared deeply about he realized how nerve wrecking it is to be on the other side, and how disgusting it is to see horny males look at Judy like she were a piece of meat. He felt ashamed of himself for acting the same way less than a decade prior.

-"Carrots, why aren't you staying in the Pangolin Arms?"- He said adjusting his tie and praying the old landlady didn't recognize him.

She stiffed for a moment and her face fell, in a reluctant grumble she whispered –"Because they don't take predators"- Bowing her head in shame she averted her eyes –"That's why my family chose it at first"-

He sighed annoyed, of course they would! Their little precious naïve daughter would be living in a city filled with predators, the least they could do to ensure her safety is to keep her in a prey-only building. Even now they sent her to the safest place they could afford for someone like her. Ugh, that's water under the bridge now, sure Stu and Bonnie had been speciest to foxes in the past but he knew now from experience they were just good mammals with misguided ideas.

Big Bertha opened the iron gates of the manor and stood before them as tall and imposing as ever, with a critical eye she looked down on the two foxes, and then she bent down to stare at Nick right to his eyes.

-"Long time no see Mr. Wilde. Couldn't you even wait until this poor thing enters my manor to pounce on her like de pervert you are?"- Then she turned to Judy –"I would stay away from him if I were you, he has the habit of courting young ladies and then dumping them like old trash after he gets what he wants. I can also assure you that whatever promises he gave you, he will not keep them"-

Outraged the vixen stared at him accusingly; bunny or not she still looked really cute when mad.

Raising his paws in a defensive posture he told both angry females in front of him –"Look that was a long time ago, and I even I can see that was wrong from my part, but now I'm just a reformed fox looking out for my friend all right?"- He handed Judy her bag once she crossed the threshold, males are not allowed inside of the pink palace's gates -"Besides, I'm not the biggest threat you should be looking out for"- he said pointing at the silver fox not far from there, at this point the guy wasn't even pretending to mind his own business, he just stared at Judy and waved. A vixen would know that anything other than cold stares would be seen as an open invitation for the other fox, but she was a friendly ex-bunny that knows nothing of foxes' mating customs, so of course she waved back at him with enthusiasm and a friendly smile. And of course she was confused when Nick groaned dragging his paw over his face.

–"A beautiful vixen like her needs to get used to that type of attention, but I'll teach her how to handle herself properly."- Big Bertha looks at the red fox with a smug grin, it was about time he got a taste of his own medicine –"Be careful fox, you'll have a lot of competition"-

…

Working in the file storage room was doing wonders for her, she could do a lot of very useful work by uploading cold case files into the new database so Nick's task force could have a broader data bank, that way she was helping her friend and making the world a better place at the same time. In the quiet lonely darkness of the files room she was free to be herself, she could cry if she felt like doing so or mull over her thoughts without her workmates getting worried or feeling pity. Before she knew It, the fake smiles she wore to put her loved ones at ease weren't that fake anymore and little by little it got easier to get through the day.

Alas, all good things come to an end. There is a massive protest all over the city and every available officer needs to go to the streets and keep the peace, it's a good thing she has ample training in that matter.

The protest is for the ban of housing discrimination, a law that was about to be passed until the savage attacks happened and it had to be repealed, now that things are settled the predators are asking for it to be finally implemented. Because many landowners and realtors refuse to work with predators it is much more difficult for them to find a cheap suitable home that it is for prey, which means they end up paying a lot more to live in worse places than the rest of the population. With the price of rent on the rise and preds usually working in low salary jobs, it's becoming impossible for them to afford to live in their own city. On the other paw the preys wouldn't feel safe if they had to live in the same building as a predator so they made a counter protest asking the law wasn't changed.

Seeing the angry mammals on both sides of the conflict Shlaufucs talks into her brain from the dark recesses of her mind, that place where nightmares come from: " _The rights that took years of struggle to achieve were removed and we still haven't managed to reclaim them, just because you ended the conspiracy it doesn't mean that the hurt you caused was cured all of the sudden_ " Judy can ignore that nagging voice now, the memories from her imprisonment are still painful but she can relive them without having a panic attack

She's part of the police barricade that separates the predators from prey, stuck between a koala and a lioness both holding signs filled with hateful speech. Her added height and strength are much more useful than her previous bunny form when it comes to command authority, Sanders was right her modifications did make her work a lot easier.

The lioness grows tired of wasting her breath on the stubborn koala that keeps throwing speciest insults at her, so she tries to talk to the cop vixen standing between them. –"Why aren't you on or side? This affects you too! Don't you have any problems finding a home?"-

She knows what the protesters are going through; the difficulty into finding a place to live is now an issue that affected her directly. The pink manor was safe for pred standards but Foxtown is a pretty dangerous place to be after dark, even as a cop she often needed for Nick to escort her to her new home, the few times she walked on her own she had to fight off at least two horny foxes and even a few wolves. The foxes were merely annoying at their flirting since it is up to the female to choose her mate; they just made sure she knew they were eager and available. Wolves were a very different issue, they saw vixens like easy prey and within the whole canide genus they were also seen as slutty, because of the difference in their culture the wolves were very aggressive in their courting. A couple of times Judy ended up sending those jerks to the precinct with a black eye.

But the first rule of being an officer is to leave you own ideas and prejudice behind, so she gave the same stern warnings to the mammals that rallied on both opposing sides. –"Both of you back off and stay behind your designated areas"- In her attempt to exude authority she forgot to hide her fangs while speaking, because she actually didn't know how to handle those yet and part of her new physiology made her more prone to bouts of aggression that she still hadn't learned to control. But since the dawn of civilization it was always seen as insulting from a predator to show its fangs to a prey, and the koala felt threatened.

-"You filthy pred! How are we going to be safe when the predators have taken over our security?"- He said while emptying a whole can of fox repellent on her face.

The spray quickly spreads all over her sensitive snout and eyes taking her nerve endings beyond pain, its liquid fire that infects her entire face and she can't breathe, it paralyses her and all she can do is curl into a fetal position on the ground gasping for air. And to think she was once willing to inflict this damage on another mammal like Nick, this is true karma, she had this one coming.

Lucidity doesn't come until she's at the ambulance with two paramedics. It took a few IV shots for her not to die of an anaphylactic reaction, but what she is most grateful for is the milk someone brought to her and spilled on her face, it actually calmed her pain.

Blinking her eyes to adjust her vision she said –"thank you"- to the angel that helped her out.

-"No problem flopsy, I've had my run ins with that thing many times before. It hurts like a bitch doesn't it?"- To her shock the mammal in front of her was none other than Duke Weaselton. Judy remembered the protest was really close to his pirated movies stand.

-"Why are you helping me?"- She said confused.

The weasel turned serious for a moment before condescendingly patting the top of her head –"Wilde helped me patch things up with Mr. Big, as long as I kept my ears on the street to find a certain missing bunny. I really don't want to get on that fox's bad side so for now, just tell him that we're even and I don't want any more trouble"- then he disappeared into the large crowd.

Crap, maybe the rumors were true, Clawhauser said that while commanding his task force searching for her, Nick made Bogo look like a fluffy kindergarten teacher. Even to this date there is a general fear within the criminal element towards her partner, they say there wasn't a more fearsome cop since Eliott Fleece. It's hard to reconcile that image with the sweet cuddly fox she always spends her time with.

After the effect of the spray faded she tried to get back into the barricade, only to be stopped by the Chief himself calling on her intercom who ordered her to get the rest of the day off. There was one condition though, tomorrow morning she would be expected to be on patrol again, she won't be allowed on the files room anymore. The buffalo argued that if she could handle both a violent protest _and_ fox repellant on the face without having an emotional breakdown, then she was ready for the streets. It was to be expected really, she had passed her physical test with flying colors and even set a new record on a few scores, the former prey understood now how easy preds had it on athletic trials.

That night Nick insisted that she stayed in his place, he wanted to keep an eye on her after her last misfortune and make sure she was all right. Judy didn't mind in the slightest, it was like the good old days when they had sleepovers and movie nights and things were just normal.

But things _had_ changed, since the casual normalcy they tried to maintain was forced. As Judy snuggled next to him on the couch she could smell what her previous bunny self had been blissfully ignorant, now she could detect the pheromones of a mildly aroused tod. It was mind blowing how good foxes in general are when it comes to mask their emotions, there he was, seemingly interested by the dumb comedy in front of him totally relaxed, his body language casual and not a speck of tension in his muscles . Yet her nose broke through the illusion and told her that he was not only horny but also a little stressed. Sure it was amazing to be finally able to crack through his carefully placed mask, yet it was also a little disturbing to find so much awkward information all the time.

Big Bertha told her not to address the emotions she could sniff on other mammals; it was rude to remind them how easily you could probe into their personal lives. No wonder he had always read her like a book and played with her emotions, he could basically smell her thoughts. Sure he never crossed the line of indecency but he always knew when she needed and extra cuddle and used his knowledge to make her feel better.

But is this healthy? To let him feel this tense around her, as she plays the part of the ignorant? And if she wanted to talk to him about this what would she say? " _Look Nick you're obviously horny and since we're watching a movie about an old elephant skydiving I'm pretty sure it's not about the film. Is it because I'm a vixen now? Suddenly you can't have a friendly relationship with me anymore because we're from the same species?"_

No, the answer for the last questions she already knew. He had asked her out shortly **before** she got kitnapped, and while a little apprehensive about an interspecies date she did say yes, if only not to hurt the mammal she cared so much about. Besides try everything is her motto, even a date with her best friend. Then Shlaufucs took her away and all dating plans went out the window along with her previous life.

According to the book of fox etiquette she had been reading, it is up to the female to lead the courtship. Males who are interested in a vixen might flirt to signal her they're available but it is up to the female to take the male she chooses. It would explain why Nick had been so nervous when he had asked her out; it was the opposite of what his culture usually did.

After all they had been through lately she knew they were meant for each other, but right now she didn't feel brave enough to ask. She still covered all mirrors around her because her image is still something she cannot comprehend; sometimes the only way to keep her sanity is to pretend she's still a bunny and all that happened was nothing but an awful nightmare.

It would be very unfair for her to drag him into a relationship while she still felt damaged and emotionally unstable; he had suffered enough because of her already.

So one day, sooner than later, she would do what vixens are supposed to do and mark her mate. But not today, at least not yet.

First she needs to sneak into the bathroom and take a good look at herself in the mirror over the sink; she needs to embrace who she has become. If she manages to confront her own image without thinking about Shalufuchs's experiments and crying her little heart out, then maybe who knows, she might be able to make a claim over her tod.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I added a second and final chapter to the story so I could give it more closure.**

…

Contrary to the canide stereotype Nick can't afford to be the jealous type. Not when he's dating one of the most beautiful vixens in Foxtown, one that has bunny DNA on her and therefore everyone assumes would make her wonderful in the sack. There are way too many horny males hovering around her for him to even keep track on, sure it would be nice to let all the other guys know that she was his and fight them off should they come too close, but that would be impractical and soon drive him to insanity. So he has learned to accept that if Judy wished to dump him, a large line of eager tods and other canines would form at her doorstep.

In the end all he can do is trust her, because he knew that Judy wouldn't cheat on him. He also has to trust in himself, he has to remind his insecure brain that she chose _him_ and not all the other tods that harass her daily, that the relationship they had was built over a long beautiful friendship and couldn't be swayed by shallow flirts and hormones. But it is hard to not snap into a feral rage whenever a tod steals glances at his girlfriend and starts flirting with her right in front of him, in spite of evolution males still compete with other males for the right to mate, civilization might be a much more shallow veneer than mammals would like to admit.

He still remembers the night she asked him out, they had been watching a dumb comedy when she went to the bathroom and didn't get out, not for a long time at least. He was worried she might have gotten sick or had another nervous breakdown so he stayed by the closed door asking if she was alright, just as he was about to break de door in a fit of panic she came out looking disheveled and reeking of fear, but there was a glint of pride on those big purple orbs.

Chin held high and posture straight she looked at him in the eye and with a serious tone asked him –"Nick, would you like to be my boyfriend?"-

He didn't dare to say yes until he was sure she was being serious. He had wanted for a long time to be more than friends but he had been so careful as to not pressure her that he hadn't stopped to consider she might feel the same. Back in the day, before she was kitnapped, he had gathered the courage to ask her out. She had given him a warm bubbly smile when she said yes, but he did notice some apprehension in her cute little face.

And then Shlaufuchs happened, and his Carrots was left so frail he was terrified of screwing up and make things worse, ever since then she was the one that had to push forward in their relationship.

It was the biggest irony of all, he spent so much time reconciling with the idea that he had fallen in love with a bunny, only to have that argument turned moot when she was turned into a vixen. None of that matters anymore, if Shlaufuchs had turned her into an octopus he would have loved her just the same.

Yet one of his many regrets is not being able to touch her soft big velvet ears anymore or see that cute perky cotton tail wag ever again. Sure now Judy has a silky, fluffy, luxurious one in its place but with all her genius the mad scientist couldn't match the effortless beauty of the original, she could never equal nature's work. Her buck teeth by example had been a little uneven, giving her an extra cute smile, now her flawless white fangs are a sight to behold but they lack the charm of her previous chompers.

Sometimes he wishes he could die and go to hell only so he could beat the crap out of that deranged bitch for all of eternity, but wallowing in the past will not fix anything. Life needs to move on.

They are a couple now, but not partners anymore.

Work partners in a romantic relationship being banned within the code of conduct aside, he is the chief of the newly formed data management task force, because of that he had quickly raised through the ranks.

Nick would have gladly taken Judy with him, he knew she would be very helpful in commanding this large workforce but she refused to ride in his coat tails and instead chose to raise ranks on her effort alone. So every morning he has to see her take off with her new partner, a rabbit named Theodore Flandes.

He is the weirdest rabbit he ever knew, for starters he's huge for a lagomorph, and seems to belong to a large breed named Flemish giants. While still a middle sized mammal he is almost as tall as Nick, also much slower and steadier in his movements than the usual energetic rabbit.

Judy liked him, which is no big deal since she actually likes everyone. The tod was warming up to that guy as well, he seemed easygoing and had that mellow personality usually associated with a larger species.

Until one day he hurt Judy.

The day had started as any other, with a moody fox glancing through the window ever so often waiting for her girlfriend to come back from her patrols. Nick used to stare at Judy from his office window whenever she was on the precinct, his task force being located on the second floor gave him a good vantage point, he could daydream lost in his romantic thoughts from his perch for hours. It was just so frustrating that they spent up to ten hours on the same building yet had so little time for themselves, long shifts, hard patrols and obligations were keeping them too occupied for them to have a proper personal life.

So he knew something was wrong by the frown both agents had when they came into the building with a juvenile bunny in cuffs, then he saw the police rabbit tell her something that made her really upset, her triangular ears shook and then flattened against her head. Judy had managed not to cause a big scene in her cubicle but from the balcony of the second floor he saw her run towards the chief's office and smelled her distress. He wanted to rush to her side, but she was much faster than him and once she closed the door there was nothing he could do to help her, Bogo was still his boss and Nick had no power or leverage on him. At least he could always rely on good old precinct gossip to figure out what was going on, though that didn't take much probing, pretty soon Fangmeyer came in and informed him it was probably Flandes' fault since they had an argument a few minutes ago, but the tigress didn't know what it was about.

Earlier that morning:

Judy and her new partner were chasing a crook on foot that stole several cellphones from an appliance store. She loved chasing down criminals on the street, the adrenaline rush always filled her with giddy excitement, but ever since she became a vixen there was a sense of need behind those chases, a primal urge within her instincts that made it imperative to catch her new prey. It was one of the reasons why she chose to stay on the streets instead of working with Nick, sure she had ambitions and did want to help him make the world a better place, but she wasn't ready to give up the field work just yet.

She is almost there, the rabbit she's chasing parkours into the city's landscapes using the ceilings of the buildings like his own playground, with incredible agility he climbs over the tiniest ledge on the city's architecture and jumps over fences with ease only to slide on the rails over the stairwells. But she is stronger than him and even faster since there are still traces of her original species within her DNA makeup. Closer and closer, every step leads the vixen to her prey until she can feel the heat of his fur and the intoxicating smell of his fear. He dodges her at first, zigzagging into the concrete and pivoting at angles no other species could pull off with that much effortless grace, he slinks between the legs of the largest mammals without any difficulty. But she is relentless and what she lacks in balance because of her very heavy tail she compensates with her new improved sense of smell, he could trace him through the large city even with her eyes closed. It just takes a little more effort, a little more adrenaline and determination and soon enough, her prey takes too sharp of a turn and she gets her chance to strike.

One swipe of her paw and the crook stumbles and falls as he was jumping towards a ledge on a high ceiling, landing clumsily into a deserted alley; she wastes no time in pouncing over the scared kit.

She sees him trembling and her whole body vibrates with excitement as her fallen prize squirms helpless below her, an inner urge bubbles in her stomach as her lips curl into a gleeful snarl exposing her long pointy fangs.

-"Leave me alone you fucking pred!"- The terrified bunny below her says shivering; he is barely over fifteen years old.

-"Say that again?"- She cocks her head daring her prisoner to repeat his mistake and face the awful consequences

-"Hopps what the hell are you doing?!"- Flandes' voice booms from behind her and she turns to see her partner wearing an expression of shock and outrage. He had been left behind on the foot chase because of his slower gait, but when he caught up with them he saw his partner snarling and pouncing over the suspect like a feral fox over her lunch.

-"I just apprehended the prisoner"- She says still growling, the fur on her back standing up making her look twice her size

-"To me it looks like you were harassing him, I saw you caught him a while ago but you never gave him a proper restraining and you never read him his rights"- He takes the frightened bunny from her, cuffs him and recites the Miranda rights

Her jaw dropped as she came into her senses, the smell of fear was so strong it made her dizzy. She had terrified someone weaker than her only for her own enjoyment, he might have been a perp but he was unarmed and not a violent threat. That bunny she had harassed was no older than many of her siblings and she had taken pleasure in causing him fear, she had acted in the same awful way Gideon had when she was little. Judy had become what she hated the most, what she always fought against, she was a bully.

She let the buck handle all the proceedings from there, the ride on the patrol car had been as quiet as it was tense. Only when it was time to do the paperwork did Flandes talk to her.

-"In case you're wondering I'm not gonna mention what happened in my report, for all I know you caught the criminal and I did the rest, technically speaking we didn't actually break protocol."- taking a deep breath he steadied himself to not sound too angry at her, he had some semblance of what Hopps had been subjected to and he understood it couldn't be easy to adjust into a whole new species –"Look I know this whole trans-species thing is hard to handle but please tell me you know what you did there was wrong"-

She wanted to respond but talking was pretty difficult while hyperventilating, with every breath her words came faster and her voice got sharper, until he had trouble figuring out what she was saying -"I don't know what happened to me… I was chasing that guy and then I snapped and I didn't even bothered to think if what I was doing was wrong I just acted on instinct and now… I'm a monster! That bitch turned me into a monster!"-

-"Wow take it easy Hopps, nobody is calling you a monster, I just want to make sure this kinda thing doesn't happen again"- he laid a comforting paw over hers and upon looking at it she felt extremely jealous, not too long ago she had soft padless paws as his. So she snapped herself away from his gentle grip and stormed off.

" _I don't know how to stop it! How can you control something like this_?" she thought doing her best not to panic.

As she rushed towards the chief's office a group of cops crowded around Fandes' cubicle, their accusing stares fell on the large rabbit, to them he was the dumb rookie cop that made one of their traumatized colleagues upset.

-"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you say to make her so angry?"- Trunkaby practically barked at him.

-"It's not his fault he didn't do anything! I am the one that messed up"- she shouted back as she walked away, until now it was a miracle that she had managed to keep some sense of composure, but her experienced colleagues weren't fooled, in a meek attempt to keep a shred of dignity she bottled up her tears and took a stern professional look as she addressed her chief.

Flandes wanted to follow her but a literal blue wall of angry cops stopped him –"You know what fluff butt? I would love to give you a little lesson in respecting you superiors but I rather unleash Wilde on you, by the time he's done, you'll be nothing but a _cute_ cotton rug"- Wolford snarled

And sure enough, soon a very angry fox was rushing through the crowd with an expression that read "I'm gonna eat you for breakfast"

-"Would you mind telling me what was all that about?"- He ground each word between imperceptible growls

-"It's not my place to tell you sir"- Flandes said eyeing the group of angry cops, he didn't feel like venting Hopps' mistake in front of all her coworkers. If she wanted to confess then that was her choice but he wouldn't be a snitch.

-"Oh I see, then come along to my office for a private chat"- he smiled with the sweetest venom tinge in his voice, the kind so foreboding that it should be used on horror films. Bravely the buck looked him straight in the eye and nodded, following Nick to the second floor.

In the meantime Bogo heard Hopps' statement with stern professionalism, he had dealt with similar issues from many other officers but he never thought _she_ would be one to have such problem. Then again he never expected one of his officers to change species because of mad science. In hindsight he should have seen it coming, if predators that were taught about civilization and impulse control since childhood had the occasional outburst, there was little chance for her to exercise complete control after having predatory urges for less than a year. In the end he guessed her bunny nature would prevail but he was proven wrong.

-"Tell me officer Hopps, did you actually cause harm on the suspect?"- His voice neutral, a hint of sympathy leaked through it

-"No sir, my partner stopped me before I had the chance to do anything"- Her spine was straight, in spite of her shame she managed to keep her voice steady

-"Was his arrest done with any violation of the rules?"-

-"No sir, Flandes made sure to arrest him following the protocol"-

Flaring his nose the buffalo grumbled -"Good, in that case there is no need for me to take disciplinary action on you. But next time you might not be so lucky, there is a high risk that you might take a step too far and injure a suspect or even worse, take the law under your own paws and kill one without due justification. You hold a position of power over the populace, even worse, you have the right to carry a _gun_ around the populace. Therefore a loose trigger cop could cause a lot of harm and it will not be accepted in my precinct."-

-"I understand sir"- It was still cute, though weird, to see a vixen twitching her nose.

-"You are far from the first officer to have gotten carried away by your instinct; it is that aggressive streak that gives predators an edge when working as first responders. But it's too easy to lose control of that, especially for someone in your situation. So I'll do what is standard in these cases, as of now you're required to assist in anger management classes and you're not allowed on the field until you get an authorization from the department psychologists. Until then I suggest you get transferred to the data management task force with Wilde, he's been grumpy and distracted ever since you partnered with Flandes. Canides don't work well without their mates around-"

Technically she wasn't Nicks mate, at least not yet, but didn't feel like correcting her boss about semantics on vulpine customs. Mates are basically married foxes while they are still on the dating stage -"That sounds great sir, but isn't it forbidden for mammals in a romantic relationship to partner up or even work on the same department?"-

Bogo scoffed rolling his eyes –"The code of conduct was made by idiots who don't understand how different species interact, sure put two felines together and they will rut all the time and have no work done, but keep two canides apart for a long period of time and they start sulking in the corners while their productivity plummets. Now go tell Wilde of the good news before he makes a scene, he's been a jittery mess lately, you're dismissed."-

Everyone in the precinct was shocked when Flandes came out from Wilde's office in one piece, when Clawhouser asked him what had happened the rabbit only said: -"I explained the situation to him and the reasons I argued with Hopps, he said he would talk to her later and if she agreed with me then he would let the subject go"- After the fox heard what Judy had done, and how the buck stopped her from doing something she would regret her whole life, he stopped planning the rabbit's demise in his head. They both agreed he would keep his muzzle shut about the whole thing and do their best to keep the vixen from damaging her career too much.

-"Just like that? I mean… it's great that he took things so calmly! He can be really temperamental when it comes to his girlfriend"- The large buck liked that cheetah but he was sure his friendliness was just a way to get some juicy rumors about the whole scene he starred in, he can see on the large feline's eyes the silent plea for more information, but rookie or not he knows better than to vent this particular issue further.

-"Well he did say that if my story doesn't check with Hopps he would skin me alive and maul me in my sleep, but he is a pretty reasonable mammal once you get to know him"- He knew his partner would corroborate what happened so he was at ease, and sure her boyfriend could get overly protective sometimes but he was still a reasonable mammal.

Six weeks later:

Anger management classes turned out to be just the therapy Judy needed, she could interact with many predators of all species and have a better understanding not only on her urges but on her new identity. It had been a stressful and painful process but in the end it was all worth it, for the first time since she was kidnapped she felt normal, different from whom she was but normal nonetheless. She was finally a healthy vixen instead of a broken bunny.

Even after getting the all clear from the psych department she wouldn't go back to patrols unless an emergency called for all units on the street, the vixen missed hanging out with Theo and they still stayed as very good friends but her place was next to Nick. Her organized and meticulous personality was exactly what the task force needed, her boyfriend was good following hunches but it was her direction and ability to focus what allowed the best results.

Thinking about her partner, her constant partner, her life partner, she resolved to do what any sane vixen would have done by now.

So one day she sneaked out from the pink palace at 6 am, he boyfriend wouldn't pick her up until 9 so she had time. A few steps outside her new home a fennec fox in an old van came to pick her up, she was shocked to find Theodore along with her brother James greeting her on the back of the vehicle.

-"What are you guys doing here?"- Judy was suspicious, Finnik had promised her he wouldn't tell a soul about this

-"Well it's pretty interesting to see a female doing this kinda stuff; we know foxes are different from bunnies but this one thing is just bizarre!"- James said not even bothering to hide his giddy excitement

-"We thought you might need the extra support since your sisters or girl friends might not know what to do"- The larger rabbit felt cramped in the back of the van surrounded by the smaller mammals

-"Thanks guys I appreciate it"- She did, it was kinda unnerving to follow up this particular ritual, so having back up was welcome.

Finnic drove them to the Feline district in the rainforest, they went to a small store specialized in exotic herbs and other weird animal based ingredients. An old grumpy spotted cat greeted them with a sober expression.

– "Um hello sir… I'm looking for a very special item and my friend here"- Judy nodded her head in the fennec fox's direction –"Said you are the only mammal in the city who could sell it, at least legally"- She looked embarrassed around hoping nobody would see her, it was a little too mortifying to buy something like this, so much that she refused to say it's name out loud.

The feline nodded –"Yes I am, it is rare to see prey around these parts, especially one interested in my merchandise"- the feline's yellow eyes pierced at the nervous rabbits with a devious smile, he relished in their discomfort but didn't waste time to shove a wooden box in front of them.

Opening up the box she understood the beauty of the object inside, but couldn't help to cringe at the way it was obtained.

-"Are you sure it's legal?"- James asked to the cat with his nose twitching, because of their similar size primitive cats rarely hunted adult rabbits but there was primal hunger in the malicious glint of those yellow eyes.

-"As you may know we felines are strict carnivores and as such, we're the only ones allowed to feed from the ocean. This is just a byproduct of our food supply and it was obtained within the regulation from the safe species conservation act"- The cat bowed and responded automatically, obviously used to repeating that same phrase several times during the day. He showed them the documentation that proved the materials were harvested legally

-"So this is what Nick said he wanted?"- Judy asked Finnik with apprehension.

-"Yeah is this the kinda thing foxes talk about?"- James had problems picturing two manly tods drinking beer and discussing these kinds of details

-"It's a really important thing all right?"- Finnik said defensively –"and no, we don't usually talk about it we just keep it a secret. But I know Nick and he's pretty old fashioned when it comes to mating rituals, you won't get anything more classical than this."-

-"The puppy is right young lady, for many generations predators have purchased these to give their loved ones, as a sign of affection and a way to honor their ancestry"- The cat easily dismissed the angry growl he got from the fennec fox.

-"Allright, I'll take it"- she said placing several dollar bills at the counter

Later that day:

They had a nice day off, they took a walk through the park, went to see a nice movie and had a good casual dinner at his place, but as the day progressed Judy got more nervous.

Well she was nervous _before_ , now she's terrified. Nick pretends to relax watching the TV and ignore how her tail swings wildly from one side to another while her fur stands on end. Ugh why does she have to be such a klutz? Her mind is already rambling uncontrollably " _Okay don't panic, try to play it casual even when you can see he's already on to you. Well of course he's on to you you've been washing the dishes for half an hour now. Oh crap what if he knows already? Nah he's not that good of a hustler and the guys swore they'll keep the secret. Fine just do it already, like ripping out a band aid!"_

-Nick there's something I've wanted to ask you, we've been dating for a while but between our work and my issues we hadn't gone out that often. So I was thinking… why don't we go on a date?"-

Nick sighed relived, Judy had been acting so nervous around him lately that he suspected she might have gotten herself in some kind of trouble, her being a magnet for mayhem and all -"sure carrots where do you want to go?"-

-"Somewhere fancy, the kinda place you have to dress up and has a separate wine menu with French names on the bottles"-

-"Fancy place it is then! Besides you're right if we're not gonna date pretty often we might as well go all the way. I know a guy that works in Giza, I heard their fish sticks are wonderful"-

Judy grabbed the bag of popcorn she heated on the microwave and snuggled next to her fox, now all she had to do was get through the whole week while doing the preparations.

….

Giza was a very fancy place, in the snobby metropolitan way that characterized all the high class restaurants in Zootopia, the food was great, the wine was wonderful and Judy couldn't care less about any of that because her nerves were about to make her throw up her lunch.

Her boyfriend leads the conversation with his usual wit and while he plays it cool he's stares at her with that look he gets when he knows she's on to something, but he won't bring up the subject before she does. She stares at the clock on the far wall, the handles move with the speed of a drowsy sloth. Customs say that' she's supposed to wait until after dessert but she can't take it anymore, her heart thumps on her chest with the speed of a hummingbird's wings, so she clears her throat and brings up the subject before she gets a stroke from all that pent up exitement.

-"Nick we have been together for a while now, through the good and the bad and… the horrible"- A vision of sterile labs filled with surgical tools flash before her eyes but she quickly puts that thought aside, she won't let them ruin this moment. –"I've been thinking about it for a while now and there's something really important I have to say"-

-"Okay fluff, then say it. You know I'll always support you right?"- he says solemn, taking her paw over the table.

-"I do. But it's a lot harder than I thought, sweet carrot sticks I've been rehearsing what I was going to tell you in my head over and over! but now that I have you in front of me I'm scared"-

-"Why are you afraid of? What happened?"-

-"I'm afraid of your reaction, afraid that you might"- She sighed and shrugged, her lips froze and her mind continued the sentence " _Say no_ "

Nick flattened his ears against his scalp, he looked terrified –"You're not dumping me aren't you? Please tell me you're not eloping with that silverback fox that's always waiting outside you place!"- Was that why she asked him out? Did she drive him to a very public place so he wouldn't make a scene? Because if she was he had a surprise for her, he would make a huge scene even if that meant he had to be escorted away by security.

-"What! Are you crazy?"- She said almost shrieking but then reminded herself not to yell at her boyfriend in a moment as special as this. –"No I just…"- Sighing in exasperation the vixen gave up on the poetic and romantic speech she had taken days to prepare, every word was forgotten anyway. So she took the wooden box from her purse and basically slammed it on the table, the waiter saw the cue and signaled the manager, a few minutes later from the speakers the song "Kiss from a rose" resonated into the whole building, was it clichéd? Sure it was! But it had been one of Nick's favorite songs from his favorite movie when he was a kit.

The light dimmed just slightly as the electric candles flared with pink light, giving the whole restaurant a private magical atmosphere, the other clients held their breath as the vixen took the box and kneeled in front of him. Her big purple eyes saw him with such love and joy he had been rendered speechless.

-"Nick would you marry me?"-

When she opened it he couldn't believe his eyes, inside there was a ring made of tortoiseshell and abalone mother pearl, it was a gorgeous ring but he was surprised Judy would buy him an item made out of the corpses of tortoises and seashells. He always loved its delicate organic design, it was valuable but not too flashy, and it was also a precious material that had a very deep meaning of predator pride. It was an offer that evolved from the stone ages when courting a mate involved giving dead prey to their loved one, with the advent of civilization and the truce with the other species the only acceptable replacement became fish. In the last century the preds merged that custom with the prey's engagement ring and tortoiseshell became the standard offer for a marriage proposal.

He would have screamed yes so loud the entire restaurant would have heard but his throat wouldn't work so all he could do was nod vigorously, then he lifted her up on his arms and squished her little form so tight she had to wiggle herself out just so she could breathe.

The next morning was the first time he was awake before sunrise, if only because he didn't sleep through the whole night, he couldn't believe Judy had acted like a true vixen and proposed to him. They had spent the entire night making love and marking each other and thus completing the mating ritual, they were now bonded for life.

He lifted his paw and saw his engagement ring flicker in the sunlight, it was a beautiful piece, too bad it was made of plastic. Turtles were labeled an endangered species back in the 70s, driven close to extinction because of its high demand as a luxury item, so it's impossible to find real tortoiseshell on the city. When she told him she bought it according to regulations from the safe species conservation act he knew she had been hustled, of course it abide the regulations, no turtles were used making the ring! So he is torn between telling her she paid a lot of money for a piece of plastic or letting her live with the guilt of being responsible for the death of an innocent turtle. For now he'll pay a visit to that little kitty hustler that scammed his vixen and demand a refund, with the money he will buy her a nice gold engagement ring, he guessed that since she had made the effort to follow the vulpine traditions it was only fair he respected the lapine rituals as well.

He won't let her go back to the pink palace, that obnoxious she bear won't stand between them anymore. It was time to move on in life, to get a loan, mortgage and pay the taxes, to embrace the bourgeois life he had looked down upon since his teenage years.

It was time to grow up, and he couldn't be happier about it.


End file.
